(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wire shelf and support arm assembly. In particular, the present invention relates to a wire shelf having a support surface formed by a plurality of spatially arranged longitudinal wires, and a support arm designed to be suspended beneath the shelf member to facilitate the attachment of the shelf and support arm to a vertical surface, and designed to be attached to different embodiments of the shelf member having different spatial arrangements of their pluralities of longitudinal wires.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Various different types of wire shelf assemblies are known in the prior art. These prior art assemblies typically include a shelf member constructed of pluralities of crisscrossing wires. The typical shelf member is comprised of a first plurality of parallel, longitudinally extending wires each having opposite front and back ends and each being substantially the same length. The first plurality of wires are arranged side by side, with a set lateral spacing between adjacent wires. At least one back wire extends laterally beneath the back ends of the longitudinal wires and is secured to each of the plurality of wires. At least one front wire extends laterally beneath the front ends of the plurality of longitudinal wires and is also secured to each of the front ends of the plurality of wires. The connection between the laterally extending front and back wires and the plurality of longitudinally extending wires secures the longitudinally extending wires in their laterally spaced relationship.
In many different prior art wire shelf members, the lateral spacings between the adjacent longitudinally extending wires of the shelf members is different. Typically however, the plurality of longitudinally extending wires are spaced laterally from each other by one inch or one-half inch spacings.
The shelf support arms of prior art shelf assemblies are usually formed as elongate rods having one end configured to be attached to a vertical support surface, and an opposite end configured to be attached to a forward portion of the shelf member. In assembling a prior art shelf and support arm assembly to a vertical support surface, the rearward edge or back wire of the shelf member is usually first secured to the vertical support surface. The shelf member is then held horizontal while the support arm is connected between a forward portion of the shelf member and the vertical support surface. In the assembled relative positions of the shelf member and support arm, the shelf member is secured to the vertical support surface along its rearward edge or back wire and projects horizontally outward from the vertical support surface. The support arm is positioned at an angle relative to the underside of the shelf member, with a rearward end of the support arm being secured to the vertical support surface and a forward end of the support arm being secured in some manner to a forward portion of the shelf member.
Many prior art wire shelf and support arm assemblies are disadvantaged in that the component parts of the assemblies are not interchangeable with other assemblies. In many prior art shelf and support arm assemblies the lateral spacing between the plurality of longitudinal wires forming the support surface of the shelf requires that the specific support arm designed for use with the shelf be used in assembling the shelf and support arm to a vertical support surface. In many applications, the forward end of the support arm engages between a pair of the plurality of longitudinally extending wires and therefore is specifically dimensioned to be used with a shelf having a specific lateral spacing between the plurality of longitudinally extending wires. In these types of prior art-shelf assemblies, a support arm having a forward end dimensioned to engage between adjacent longitudinal wires of one shelf may not work with a shelf having a plurality of longitudinal wires spaced at a different lateral spacing. For a manufacturer who produces wire shelves of various sizes and with various lateral spacings between the longitudinal wires of the different shelves, the necessity of producing a specific support arm for each of the different shelves drives up the costs of producing the different shelf and support arm assemblies.
Many prior art wire shelf and support arm assemblies are also disadvantaged in that they are relatively difficult to assemble to a vertical support surface. Assembly of the shelf to the support surface requires that the rearward edge or the back wire of the wire shelf first be secured to the support surface. The shelf is then held in a horizontal orientation while the support arm is secured beneath the shelf between a forward portion of the shelf and the vertical support surface. This usually requires one person to hold the shelf in its horizontal orientation while a second person positions the support arm beneath the shelf, engaging a forward end of the support arm with a forward portion of the underside of the shelf and attaching the rearward end of the support arm to the vertical support surface.
What is needed to overcome the above set forth disadvantages of prior art wire shelf and support arm assemblies is a wire shelf and support arm assembly where the forward end of the support arm is specifically configured to be used with a variety of different wire shelves having different lateral spacings between the pluralities of longitudinal wires of the shelves. What is also needed is a support arm having a forward end that can be releasably attached to the forward portion of the wire shelf and suspended from the shelf as the rearward end of the support arm is pivoted back toward the vertical support surface and attached to the support surface, thereby facilitating the attachment of the shelf and support arm assembly to the support surface.